Red Bicycle
by Demigods in the TARDIS
Summary: "Look at you, beaming away like you're Father Christmas." "Who says I'm not, red bicycle when you were twelve?" Written right after 'The Doctor Dances', the Doctor tells Rose and Jack the story of how Rose got her red bicycle. I own nothing. R


**Red Bicycle**

"_Look at you, beaming away like you're Father Christmas."_

"_Who says I'm not? Red bicycle when you were twelve."_

"_What?"_

* * *

Rose laughed as the Doctor pulled her back up. Jack stood in the side, looking amused.

"So, Doctor," said Jack, "how long have you and Rose been travelling together?"

The Doctor shrugged non-committal. "A while," he said.

"And how long's 'a while'?" asked Jack, a gleam in his eyes.

Rose laughed again. "A few months," she said. "I met him and he blew up the place I worked in."

"Oi, that wasn't my fault!" the Doctor protested. "I had to; otherwise the plastic would have –"

"Would have taken over the world," Rose completed for him. She grinned, her tongue sticking out from between her teeth. "I know."

The Doctor harrumphed. Jack glanced back and forth between them. There was chemistry here, hard to miss. Of course, everyone in the entire Universe would probably know of it, except these two themselves. He mentally shook his head. Couples these days.

"Oh, hang on," said Rose, remembering something. "You said you gifted me a red bicycle when I was twelve. So, the shop wasn't the first time I met you."

"Technically, the shop was the first time _I_ met _you_," the Doctor said. "Timelines. Very confusing." He rounded the console, pulling a lever here and pressing a few buttons. "Right, then," he said, pointedly ignoring Rose. "Where do you wanna go? We could go and watch Merlin build the Stonehenge, or probably go forwards in time. Maybe we could visit New Earth. Or Norway."

"Oh, no, no, no," Rose said. "You are telling me this story, mister." She sat herself down on the seat beside the console and crossed her arms determinedly. She patted the seat beside her, offering Jack to sit. Jack did so, silently taking in the dynamic of the duo. Jack himself was not a very quiet person, but something about the Doctor and his extremely pretty companion compelled him to simply observe two people so undeniably in love.

The Doctor looked uncomfortable at the prospect, but relented with a sigh.

"Alright," he said, gruff. "This was after I asked you if you wanted to come with me on the TARDIS the first time . . .

* * *

The TARDIS landed with her usual sigh, holding a downtrodden Time Lord within her. The Time Lord in question was downtrodden because of a girl who had denied his offer to join him in Universal adventures.

It wasn't as if he was desperately in need of a companion and had come to London deliberately searching for one. The TARDIS had (not) accidentally landed in the 21st Century London. The year was 2005, and the Doctor didn't remember anything particularly interesting happening that year when the TARDIS had picked up a signal from the Nestene Consciousness. From that moment on, it had been his usual seat-of-the-pants adventure, except, this time, he was accompanied by a human girl. Something that had not happened in a long, long time. The last companion he had had had been far before the Time War.

This human was different. The Doctor immediately recognized a brilliance in her. She was brave and took no nonsense from anyone. She had an easy laugh and, most of all, was kind. Even though she didn't know the first thing about the Doctor, he had seen true concern in her eyes when he told her he was working alone. She understood him on a level that even baffled the Time Lord. In the end, he had been saved by that pink-and-yellow human. She was truly nothing remarkable, just a teenage girl who came from a home that could be better off, with no A-Levels. And yet, despite all her material flaws, she was a dazzling human being, and the Doctor had seen as much in the short span of time he had spent with her. So he offered her to come with him. And she had denied him.

The Doctor leaned over the console, his face grim. He tried for the simple denial not to batter him, but batter him it did, and very hard. All the Doctor's insecurities that had sunk slightly with the company of Rose Tyler resurfaced. She had declined his offer to travel the stars! The Doctor knew why, of course. She had said so herself. She couldn't leave her family. The Doctor couldn't help smiling a little. He knew what that was like, and he couldn't blame her. If only he had a chance of better saving his family.

Pushing those morbid thoughts from his mind, the Doctor squared his shoulders and trudged out through the door. He stopped dead on the pavement outside.

He found himself staring right at the Powell Estate. The same Powell Estate Rose Tyler lived. _Lives._ He consulted his mental clock. This was . . . 1998, December the 24th. New Year's Eve. Snow fell with a sigh onto the white ground. Everything was coated with a fine layer of white dust and had the overall Christmassy feel to it.

The Doctor wondered why the TARDIS had brought him here. From the corner of his eye he saw someone leave the flat beside him and watched as 12-year-old Mickey Smith made his way to Rose's flat. The Doctor suppressed a laugh. Mickey looked more dorkier as a 12-year-old than he did when he was 19.

The door to the Powell Estate swung open and out came Rose Tyler. She was pretty, even in her early years. Her blonde hair was tucked under a pink-and-blue knitted cap that covered her ears and were slightly too big for her head. She had her arms tucked in her pink wool sweater. She greeted Mickey with a hug.

Together, they set off down the street. The Doctor decided to follow them from a distance. Mickey and Rose babbled animatedly as they made their way to the public park. It was open even at this time of the night as a special for New Year's Eve. Everywhere fairy light twinkled merrily and festive decorations hung in the air.

Rose and Mickey settled down on a bench. All around them, families walked and played around in the snow. The Doctor watched them for a minute as snowballs flew through the air, smashing against pink-tinged cheeks.

Rose and Mickey spoke excitedly about Christmas presents. The Doctor managed to hide the bulk of his frame behind a tree and eavesdropped effectively.

". . . getting me a video game this year," Mickey was saying. "Can you believe it? My very own video game!"

Rose smiled at him. "You're lucky," she said. "I wanted a bicycle this year, but mum can't afford it."

"The one outside the shop down the street? You've spent ages staring at it. Did you ask her?"

"Nah," said Rose. Her feet dangled inches off the ground and she swung them. "Didn't want to make her feel like she had to get it for me or somethin'. I'm sure whatever she gets me for Christmas will be just lovely!" Her voice held a lot of conviction, but even from where he stood peering out at the two kids from behind a tree, the Doctor could make out features of her face that betrayed how downcast she actually was.

An idea stirred in the back of his mind and he slipped away before anyone could notice.

Later that night, minutes before Rose got back, Jackie Tyler opened the door to find a sleek red bicycle leaning against the wall with a beautiful blue ribbon tied to it. The note pinned to it simply said "To Rose Tyler. Have a fantastic Christmas."

Jackie looked up and down the corridor, but no one came up to claim this gift. Jackie wasn't sure if this was a prank or not. This was the very bicycle Rose had hinted at for days and Jackie had been unable to buy it for her because it was far more expensive than Jackie had expected it to be. Instead, Jackie had bought Rose a new pair of clothes. Cheap ones, of course.

Jackie heard Rose climb up the stairs and bit her lip. Making a decision, she hustled the bike into her room and hid it in the bathroom.

The next morning, Rose squealed in delight as she saw a beautiful red bicycle. She hugged her mother over and over again, unable to believe what stood in front of her eyes. She took the bike for a ride, showing off to Mickey and all her other friends. No one noticed a man in a leather jacket and with big ears smile to himself as he saw the joy radiating from the face of the twelve-year-old.

Rose Tyler, he thought to himself. Maybe, just maybe, there was a second chance hidden somewhere. He stepped back into the TARDIS and set course for seconds after his departure.

The TARDIS landed, and with practiced accuracy, he poked his head out the door and said, "Did I mention, it also travels in time."


End file.
